I was planning and prepping and pinkifying for my daughters 5th birthday party....a PRINCESS TEA PARTY!!
And yes, as my husband would say, I totally lived out my childhood dreams through her. It was way, way FAB and I loved every minute of it.
But now back to reality and time for the next post in my Mega Management Series.
How many time have you stood at your door patiently waiting while the students in line are chit-chatting, wiggling around, turning to talk to the person behind them, or some other off task behavior? I know I have done that a time or two.
It's important to dicuss expectations for lining up. I have a few guidelines that we discuss at the beginning of the year.
- Face forward at all times
- Keep hands to yourself...that means no tapping on windows we walk by or scraping the stucco off the walls while waiting in line.
- No talking while walking...I like this rhyming little ditty
To ensure that these guidelines are reinforced throughout the year I use a system that my mentor teacher heard about and started using. It's call the Mystery Walker. Any time we line up I pick a student's number from the Mystery Walker cup. I don't tell them who it is...hence the mystery part. If the Mystery Walker follows these guidelines I award the class a point, a marble in the jar, or whatever whole group incentive I'm using at the time. Here are a few tips for using the Mystery Walker system:
- Keep a toilet paper roll in the center of the cup. This way you can separate those students that you want to pick again from the ones you don't. I usually put students in the center of the roll once they've earned a point. The nice thing is students don't know I'm doing this so as far as they're concerned, they might be the Mystery Walker every time. Maybe even announce someone twice in a row so students see that in can happen!
- Don't reveal the Mystery Walker unless he or she earned the class a point. We want to keep this system positive.
- Feel free to make a switcheroo mid "walk" if you notice that a student who usually struggles in line is doing really well. For example, if Johnny (what is with that name and just sounding like a mischievous little one?! hahaha) has a hard time walking in line and I actually picked Lucy to be the Mystery Walker, nobody will know if I announce Johnny as the one who earned the class point. It's a nice confidence booster for Johnny too and his classmates now see him in a positive light.
Catch up on past posts with these links:
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